Three Weeks, Two Marathons, One Chronic Illness

HOT!!!!

As most of us in the middle of the country realize, we’re in the middle of a heat wave. It’s been in the high 90’s to 100F for almost a week and a half. I’ve managed to run during this heat wave, but it hasn’t been easy.

On Sunday, I ran 7 miles with Victoria. It was a flat loop, but was still difficult. I hadn’t run since the previous Tuesday. I took Monday off, and then ran 4 on Tuesday morning and 5 on Wednesday morning. I’ve been trying to get out there before 6, it’s been 5:45 the past two days. It’s just too hot once the sun rises, and I’m in the Cincinnati area. I wonder how people in Phoenix do it.

The temperature has has been around 80F each of the past two mornings. The relative humidity has been around 90%, which makes it tough for me to breathe. The funny thing is, both of those runs were pretty good from a heart rate perspective. I guess the heat has made me slow down (10:45 pace) and keep my HR low. I averaged about 160 for both runs. Usually, I’m around 165 for my easy runs, and end up around a 10:00 – 10:15 pace. I haven’t dared to try any speed work/tempo runs lately. I think I’d just die.

I’m also trying to research hyponatremia in CF, and how to prevent it. Obviously, I have to replace electrolytes, mainly salt. You see, CF patients sweat a ton of salt. It’s actually the diagnostic tool used for CF. They measure how much salt is in the sweat, and over a certain amount is almost certainly CF. In fact, after my older sister Judy was diagnosed back in 1957, my mother has kissed all babies in the family to “taste” them. In fact, she diagnosed me and had to convince my pediatrician to test me. He kept telling her that “CF kids don’t weigh 10 pounds at birth.” Well, I did, and I do have CF.

Anyway, back to the hyponatremia. It’s basically an electrolyte imbalance, where your plasma sodium level drops too low. It really can kill you, and CF patients are at high risk. The problem is, nobody has been able to tell me how much salt is enough or too much. I do take salt tablets when I run, usually before and during. And I drink sports drinks, but they really don’t do enough by themselves. Anyway, I’ll need to figure this out soon for the rest of my summer training. And, then be sure that I have it down for the marathon training next spring.